Some 150 Notre Dame graduating seniors who are embarking on a year or more of service in this country and abroad will be honored during the University’s annual Senior Service Send-Off ceremony at9:30 a.m.May 19 (Saturday) in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Centers Leighton Hall.
Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., will address the seniors and their families on the Universitys commitment to service in education and throughout the lifetimes of its graduates.
President Valdus Adamkus ofLithuania, who will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from Notre Dame during the May 20 Commencement ceremonies, will address the seniors and their families.
Reflections on postgraduate service will be offered by Amy Grogan, a 1990 Notre Dame alumna, former Amate House volunteer and now a partner at the law firm Garelli&Grogan.
At the ceremony each of the participating seniors will be recognized by name and service program, and each will receive a journal with favorite quotations and advice from various members of the Notre Dame community.
A blessing of the seniors will be led by Rev. William Lies, C.S.C., executive director of the Center for Social Concerns, and Liz Mackenzie, the center’s director of senior transition programs.
Among the service programs this year’s Notre Dame graduates will join are Notre Dames Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), which provides teachers for understaffed parochial schools in dioceses across the United States; Notre Dames EchoFaith Formation Leadership Program, which trains and provides religious educators for Catholic parishes; the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and Teach For America.Many of the seniors became involved in serviceand social action through the programs and courses of the Center for Social Concerns.
Music for the ceremony will include songs chosen by the graduates and led by the Notre Dame Folk Choir. Following the ceremony there will be a reception outside theDeBartoloCenter.
Tickets are required for this event and may be reserved by calling the Center for Social Concerns at 574-631-5293.
* Contact: * _Liz Mackenzie, director of senior transition programs, at 574-631-5779 or Mackenzie.12@nd.edu
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